I had the most unexpectedly posh festival experience of my life last weekend at the Isle of Wight Festival. This was due to two factors, one being that I was doing a, fairly minimal, amount of camera work for two of the performing bands and was subsequently granted an Access All Areas pass, but also because I had the great pleasure of being accommodated in a camper van.

The ‘Freedom Van’ was borrowed from my lovely soon-to-be mother-in-law and driven with a great deal of pride down to portsmouth and over the water to the island. The van chugged jollily along like a bus with the soul of a gracefully ageing hippy, and very good-naturedly permitted various admiring young folk to take pictures of her as she passed.

The merciful, and mostly undeserved, AAA pass saved me from the dark green cubic cavities of the dreaded festival toilets and I am still shocked to observe that every one of my toilet experiences involved a real flush, actual tissue paper, four permanent walls and a ceiling. At one point I actually had access to a shower, but felt that that would be missing the point somewhat.

Do not worry, my hair was determinedly rocking the festival hag look by the Sunday with several people claiming a Slash sighting what with my matted hair, permanent sunglasses and crumpled cardboard top hat.

Needless to say that at the end of the weekend, both myself, and the inside of the van, were looking rather jaded, but somehow we all managed to tootle back to London with some dignity intact, and a big smile on our faces.

Ami x